Last update: 09/03/2023
Gender inequalities are one of the great challenges we face around the world that require the collaboration of people and businesses. For this reason, at Santander we promote gender diversity during the course of the year through different global and local initiatives. This year we join the global campaign #EmbraceEquity.
Equality and equity: what is the difference?
One of the main goals of International Women’s Day #EmbraceEquity campaign is to spark conversation about why gender equality is no longer enough and to highlight the need to embrace the concept of equity. Although often used synonymously, equality means each individual or group of people is given the same resources or opportunities. However, equity goes one step further and recognizes that each person has different circumstances, and allocates the exact resources and opportunities needed to reach an equal outcome.
International Women's Day is celebrated every 8 March as a way to recognize women’s achievements and to promote equal opportunities, and more, in all areas of society. This year’s global #EmbraceEquity campaign seeks to raise awareness about the meaning of equity and how everyone play an important role in promoting it in different environments.
In the past we publicly undertook a series of commitments with our sights set to achieve them by 2025. One of them was to have female representation on the board of between 40% and 60% by 2021, a milestone we achieved in 2019 and that we currently still maintain (40%), well above the average in large listed companies in both Spain and Europe. Moreover, we have also set out the objective to reach 35% of women in senior management.
Beyond the milestones, we have a strategic plan on diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I). It includes different programs to promote equality among our people who work in all the countries in which we operate, with designed to promote a work-life balance, recruitment, professional development, equal pay and to raise awareness. We also form part of other projects such as the gender equality accelerator programme of the UN Global Compact.
Our commitment has been recognized by different prestigious organisations such as Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index 2023, which recognizes excellence and commitment to equality. Santander registered the highest score in the finance industry and the second highest overall among all the companies analyzed
We support many projects worldwide for female entrepreneurs, in order to promote female talent and leadership. Around 7,000 employees from ten countries are already part of our Santander Women Network. All along the way, the support from our business areas has been essential for building an organisation where equality is not an objective, but a reality.
In support of the #EmbraceEquity campaign, ten female illustrators from our core countries have represented, through these original artworks, what equitable action means for them. Behind their illustrations there is much more than a drawing. Diversity, inclusion, equal opportunities or belonging are some of the themes universal during International Women's Day.